


Appreciate the Sensei

by Miasen



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Apocalypse, Character Death, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Iruka Appreciation Week, Love, M/M, Rating varies from General to Explicit, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 04:57:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4947559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miasen/pseuds/Miasen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various drabbles for Iruka Appreciation Week! Fics center on Iruka, but most will be KakaIru to some extent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Origins

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm doing Iruka Appreciation Week (http://tsuzukiyume.tumblr.com/post/129888259591/iruka-appreciation-week-lets-celebrate-the)! There will be seven ficlets, and I aim to set all of them in different verses (so one canonverse, and six different AUs) Info on each prompt and AU in each chapter. I'll warn for major things such as character death in the chapters where it applies, in case any of you isn't up to reading that.
> 
> Day One: Origins. X-MenAU

It had been a day like all others. Iruka was walking back from school, backpack slung over one shoulder, untied shoelaces trailing behind him, hoodie pulled over his head. He had every intention of going home, beg his mom to make him a PB&J sandwich before retreating to his room under the disguise of doing his homework when he had every intention of playing video games for the rest of the evening.

That plan was utterly destroyed the moment he jumped in front of a bus. He had no intention of jumping in front of a bus, knew well what that would usually lead to, and although he at times found the world to be an utterly tiresome place just like any teenager might he had no desire to end it.

There was, however, a very good reason for his sudden desire to jump in front of a twenty thousand pound metal vehicle running a nice twenty-five mph, and that reason was about three years old and flashed past him on stubby legs, chasing an orange ball that perfectly matched his orange onesie. Iruka had just enough time to realise that the kid was too invested in catching his ball to realise there was a bus heading right for him, and without thinking things through he dropped his backpack and threw himself forward just in time to grab the kid and toss him towards the curb as the bus hit him. The sound of screeching brakes was the last thing he heard before he met the bus face first. He bumped along the front of the bus, felt the windshield shatter underneath him, and then there was nothing but empty air as he was tossed to the side of the bus. Time seemed to drag on forever until he hit the ground hard, skidding along the sidewalk until he stopped abruptly when he slammed into a wall.

He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, staring up at a blue sky, wondering how he was not dead yet. In fact, he wasn’t even in pain? Maybe this was what going into shock felt like? Iruka had no idea. He shook his head and pushed himself up on his elbows, looking around. There was a fair few people looking down on him, eyes wide.

“He’s one of them!” an angry voice screamed, and Iruka frowned when he saw fingers pointed at himself. One of them? What the hell?

He looked down on himself, half expecting to see broken bones sticking out, blood, maybe some guts, but what he saw had his eyes widening instantly. He was still wearing his hoodie and jeans, but they were ripped to shreds, and underneath there was no tan skin, nor was it blood and guts. Instead it was… metal. Gunmetal grey, scratched in places, but otherwise looking very much like someone had dipped him in metallic paint. Iruka poked at his abdomen through a hole in his hoodie, and only then realised that his hand was metal as well. The palm was gunmetal grey, but the back of the hand was yellow. The same exact colour as the bus that had slammed into him. What. The. Hell.

“Mutant!” another voice hissed in anger. Iruka peered up at them, heart thrumming in his chest. He’d just saved some kid, gotten hit by a bus, and somehow turned into metal. He was allowed to be a little slow on the uptake right now. Iruka wasn’t the smartest kid in school, but he was capable of putting two and two together. Normal kids didn’t turn into metal, mutants did. Which meant that he _was_ one of them, and right now that was not a good thing to be, not with how the people around him looked at him, half in fear, the other half in outrage.

Iruka scrambled to his feet and pressed his back against the rough brick wall behind him, surprised that he could feel it through his new metal skin. Mutants had never been popular, but with the terrorists that had plagued the state lately they were feared more than ever.

Iruka felt overwhelmed as he looked around. There were people everywhere. He wanted to go home, wanted to get away, but they were everywhere, accusing eyes.

A warm hand locked around his wrist, and Iruka flinched away, but the hand held firm. Iruka prepared for what might come as he turned towards whoever held him. Their face was mostly hidden behind a mask, but the one eye Iruka could see was curved up in a non-threatening way, and Iruka could swear there was a smile tugging at the fabric mask. It was clearly a guy, taller and broader than Iruka, but somehow Iruka didn’t think he was a whole lot older. He was wearing a leather pants and jacket, a green X emblazoned on the front. “Come, let’s get you out of here,” he said, and Iruka found himself calming instantly.

“Don’t worry, you are one of us now,” the guy said as he pulled him along, the crowd parting in front of them.


	2. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day Two: Family. Canonverse.

The moon was high on the sky, a silver scythe overseeing Konoha at night. It was quiet, most people asleep in anticipation of a new day, but in an open window in an apartment amongst dozens just like it a lone figure was sitting, looking out into the darkness. Wind was ruffling his shoulder length hair, and he pushed it behind his ears as he tucked one knee close to his chest. His head was tilted against the window sill as he inhaled the cool air.

For a moment he felt alone, as if he was the only one left in the world. It was a feeling he wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with. It hit him with regular intervals through his life. He usually ignored it, had gotten used to that small piece of darkness within where something would always be missing.

Even though his days were spent in rooms filled with other people he was always alone. The moment he came home and closed that apartment door there was no one. His parents were gone years ago, torn from him when he was still just a kid, and there had never been anyone to take their place.

He saw other people, ordinary people, find wives and start their own families, but he had none. Wasn’t sure he had it in him to settle down with some pretty girl and start a family. He was a shinobi, and although his responsibility rested in preparing the next generations for what was coming he would be right there on the front lines if danger approached. Besides, he didn’t think he could raise children in this world, had seen too many of his students killed too young.

He rubbed a hand against his chest over his heart. No, a regular family would not be in his future.

Strong arms wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him back to rest against a hard chest, still warm from the bed. He sighed softly as he relaxed back against that familiar body, soaking up the warmth.

“Iruka, you should come back to bed,” Kakashi said, voice muffled by being pressed against the top of Iruka’s head as he nuzzled his hair.

“Yeah,” Iruka said, feeling lighter already. He would never have a regular family, but he would have this, and maybe the two of them could be family enough.


	3. Strength

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day Three: Strength. ApocalypseAU
> 
> As a warning, this is rather angsty, and is where the character death tags come into play. Other than that maybe my favourite so far this week. :3

In the physical interpretation of the word Iruka had never seen himself as particularly strong. Having never had any interest in athletics beyond the mandatory physical education in school there was always someone stronger than him around. He wasn’t the first one you thought of when you needed someone to move that heavy piece of furniture, nor was he graced with particularly impressive muscles like the people in the movies he might sometimes watch late at night when he was struck with sudden _urges_. He had never had much of a problem with this if he was to be perfectly honest. He’d found a career in education and teaching English to high schoolers didn’t much call for much physical strength, apart from maybe when Sasuke and Naruto flew at each other and it was up to him to pull them apart.

He had never much considered his mental strength, wouldn’t have been able to tell you if he was particularly strong minded or not, but when the world ended Iruka found a whole new strength within.

When the sky lit up in bright red flames he kept surprisingly calm as he ushered the class of teenagers to take cover under their desks. He talked them through the shockwaves that shook the school building, and when the roof collapsed and took half the class with it he swallowed the panicked grief that sliced through him as a knife, gathering up those still alive as they picked their way out of the rubble, keeping their focus on him and not those left behind. He calmed those on the verge of panic and together they got out, stumbling out into a school yard torn apart by shrapnel from shock waves and a crumbling school. The entire sky was blood red, the sun pulsating above them.

He gathered the group of students in a ring, sat them down and used his newfound strength to keep them focused on the others and not the way their world was quite possibly collapsing around them. Some were praying, most were crying, some were clinging to each other, but they all stayed together, not giving in to panic.

“Naruto, Sasuke, take care of the others,” Iruka said to the two teenagers who for once were both subdued, hands clasped together. The two nodded solemnly, and as Iruka walked back towards what had at one time been a school they took up the mantle as class protectors.

Iruka stopped at the edge of the pile of rubble and peered around, seeing movement here and there where kids and teachers were digging their way out. He carefully stepped over rubble, hands soon cut open and dirty from moving beams and bricks and metal to get others away from the destruction. Behind him the group of survivors kept growing. He wasn't sure if it would matter much in the end, but he had to keep going.

A low groan drew his attention, and Iruka climbed over what remained of a wall and felt a sharp stab of fresh pain. It had been a classroom at some point, but the roof had been blown away by the shockwaves. Two girls sat pressed up against a wall, clinging together, sobbing loudly. The collapsed outer wall had claimed the lives of the rest of the class. Iruka pointedly ignored the lone arm sticking out from beneath the rubble, broken and lifeless.

As Iruka stepped down next to them the girls looked up at him, eyes full of fear. Iruka pushed his own feelings to the background as he calmed them, and sent them on their way to where the other survivors where. Then he turned to the last person alive in what had at some point been a math classroom. He knew because he had been here often, mostly to yell at the resident math teacher whenever he found a suggestive note hidden in his books or desk drawers.

Iruka sunk to his knees next to him, and finally Kakashi turned towards him, blinking up at him. His grey hair was matted with red, and one of his eyes was a ruined mess. He smiled weakly up at Iruka and held out a hand which Iruka grasped tightly.

“You came to find me,” Kakashi said, voice strained.

“Of course I did,” Iruka said, offering a smile drawn tight by pain as his strength finally started wavering.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away from me forever.”

Iruka made a sound somewhere between a sob and laugh. “You can be very persuasive, Hatake.”

“Just admit it already, you love me.”

Iruka tightened his hand around Kakashi’s. “Of course I love you, I think I always did.”

Kakashi’s smile faded as his face contorted in a grimace of pain. “You should have let me take you on that date, Iruka.”

“Yeah, I should’ve,” Iruka said wistfully as he felt Kakashi’s grip lose its strength altogether. The limp limb fell from Iruka’s hand, and he pointedly did not look at the metal beam that had crushed most of Kakashi’s body, but rather his face, still so breathtakingly handsome even behind the blood and dust. The rest of Iruka’s strength faded along with another violent pulse of light from a dying sun.


	4. Weakness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day Four: Weakness. CollegeAU. Lighthearted to make up for yesterday. :3

Iruka was sitting hunched over his desk, just as he had been for the last hours. He was in his final year of his litteratur degree, and was feeling the pressure, and thusly spent his evenings on his school work. It was getting harder and harder to focus on the words of Shakespeare as the evening in question progressed, but he only had a few days left to finish this paper, so he needed to focus.

“Maa, Iruka, come to bed already,” Kakashi complained from across the room. Iruka peered back over his shoulder and saw his boyfriend leaning against the door frame of their bedroom, wearing nothing but a very tight pair of boxer briefs. Iruka swallowed hard and directed his focus back to his paper, not about to give in to Kakashi’s whims.

He did not turn around once as he heard the soft sound of Kakashi’s bare feet walking towards him, nor did he acknowledge it when strong arms draped over his shoulders.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” Kakashi’s voice was deep, and the words flowed from him almost melodious, somehow seeming meaningful in a way they hadn’t before. Iruka clenched his eyes shut for a moment, not giving in to the shiver that traveled down his neck. When he opened them again he very pointedly started writing again, giving no heed to the meaning of the words, only the  comparisons he was working on.

“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date.” Kakashi leaned closer, his lips almost brushing Iruka’s ear, his breath warm against his skin, making it impossible to focus on his work. No! He was not this weak, he could withstand Kakashi’s advances.

“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimm'd” Kakashi’s lips brushed along the edge of Iruka’s ear as he spoke, the touch soft and barely there as he moved to the side of Iruka’s neck. Iruka’s fist locked around his pencil, threatening to break it. No no no, this was bad. He only had so much willpower to withstand Kakashi when he got like this, particularly when he resorted to _this_ , and he felt that willpower slip away from him, fast.

Iruka had a weakness he had never told anyone about, but it hadn’t taken Kakashi long to find it and exploit it to the fullest, taking great pleasure in the way it made Iruka short of breath without fault.

“And every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;t” Kakashi whispered as his lips moved against the sensitive skin at Iruka’s neck, sending shivers of pleasure down Iruka’s back. The rest of the sonnet was quietly whispered against his skin, lighting all his nerve endings on fire, making his gut tighten in lust. In that moment Iruka wasn’t sure if he hated how his neck was apparently connected directly to his libido, or if he loved it.

There was a hint of teeth as Kakashi moved along the nape of his neck, and Iruka gasped, unable to keep it back any longer. His neck had always been to sensitive, and it only took the smallest of touches to make his knees weak.

“Come to bed with me,” Kakashi husked against his neck, all soft breath and ghosting touches of lips, and Iruka finally broke his poor pencil, snapping it clean in two. By now his focus was utterly ruined, his cock was well on the way to full hardness, and he realised it was time to admit defeat.

Kakashi kissed his neck softly, and Iruka gave up, dropped the sad remains of his pencil to the desk and pushed his chair back, forcing Kakashi to take a step back as well. Iruka stood, pushing Kakashi’s arms away from him, and when he looked back at him Kakashi looked like he wasn’t sure if Iruka was giving in or if he was going to tear him a new one.

  
Iruka rolled his eyes at him, grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him forward into a hard kiss. Kakashi was quick to respond, pushing their bodies together, wrapping his arms around Iruka. Iruka could feel Kakashi’s smirk against his lips for a moment before it vanished as Kakashi poured all his attention into one task: kissing Iruka completely silly. As Kakashi started pulling him towards the bedroom Iruka found that he didn’t much care if Kakashi exploited his weakness, because he always made it worth it in the end.


	5. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day Five: Trust/Faith. KidsAU

“Trust me,” Iruka said, holding out a hand for the odd boy he’d coaxed into playing with him. Iruka was sitting on the bottom branch of his favourite climbing tree, and had every intention of getting higher than ever. Usually he would do this alone, but there had moved a new kid in next door, and he had invited him over to his garden to show him Iruka’s favourite tree when Iruka saw the other kid standing in his garden, looking all alone.

The kid looked weird, his hair grey just like Iruka’s grandparent’s, most of his face hidden behind one of those masks the doctors wore on TV. Iruka hadn’t bothered asking why he wore it, didn’t much care. He didn’t have many friends, not proper ones at least, and he kind of wanted the new kid to be his friend.

“I’ll take care of you. It’s not that high up,” he said and grinned at the kid who had introduced himself as Kakashi. 

Kakashi tilted his head to the side and looked up at Iruka as if he didn’t quite believe that climbing trees was a fun thing. He really was weird, it was almost as if he hadn’t climbed trees before. He looked at Iruka’s hand, frowning, and Iruka gave it a shake, wanting him to take it so he could help pull him up. The lowest branch was the worst to get to, after that there was so many branches he could easily climb at least ten feet, and today he was gonna climb even further, he just knew it. 

Kakashi turned away and suddenly he was coughing. Iruka wasn’t sure what to do. Should he jump down and get Kakashi’s parents? He looked kinda sick, coughing like that. Not one of those coughs Iruka got when he was sick, Kakashi was bending over, like it hurt to cough. 

He was looking at him with a frown of worry as Kakashi finally stopped and turned back to him, straightening his mask.

“Have you ever climbed a tree before?” Iruka asked when Kakashi still hesitated, and after a moment's hesitation Kakashi shook his head. Iruka’s eyes bugged out of his head in shock. He would have to show Kakashi how fun it was!

“It’s not so scary. I’ll help you,” he said, against holding out a hand for Kakashi. 

Wary eyes looked at the hand, and then he reached towards him, placing his hand in Iruka’s. 

Kakashi was only a year younger than him, but he was kinda small, so it wasn’t all that hard to help pull him up, and soon they sat side by side, feet dangling. 

“It’s fun, yeah?”

Kakashi turned towards him, and gave a small nod.

“I said you could trust me,” Iruka said. “Now let’s climb higher!”


	6. Destiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day Six: Destiny. SoulmatesInACoffeeshop AU (Because why settle for one clichéd AU when you can have two! :D)

 

Iruka had never been one to give much thought to destiny. If asked if he believed in fate or soulmates or destiny he would only smile and shake his head. Iruka had no reason to believe. Life was what you made it to be. Hard work was more likely to bring results than not giving your fullest, relationships just sometimes didn’t work out. Things might be bad or good, but it was all a mix of variables, not destiny. If he believed in destiny he would perhaps been more depressed over the fact that he was alone in the world, because if this was what his life was always intended to be it was a shitty destiny.

It was raining heavily. Of course it was raining. Because it wasn’t enough that his car broke down halfway home from work, and it certainly wasn’t enough that he had just been laid off said work today. Here he had been ready for a day at the office, trudging through his work, filing away papers and checking numbers. Instead he had been sent home before lunch. _Budget cuts_ they’d said, _out of ours hands_ , as if that was in any way comforting. But Iruka had smiled and said that he understood and kept up the pretence until he came back to his car where he had gotten his frustration out with a violent shake of the steering wheel and a short scream that brought the attention of a woman walking her dog nearby. Iruka ducked down and hid his blushing face.

And then the car stopped out of nowhere, and he could have sworn that the rain started the very moment he stepped out of the car, as a last fuck you.

Trudging through the rain he silently fumed, and if he had been a spiritual man he might have cursed out whichever deity had done this to him, but he wasn’t, so he just accepted it as the accident it was, the car and the rain and the whole getting laid off business.

With water running in cold rivulets down in neck, hair plastered to his face and socks thoroughly drenched it was difficult to keep his spirits up, at least when he knew there was still a good half an hour walk to go home. He’d take a cab, but without a job he should maybe not spend the money, so he kept walking, hands in his pockets, head bowed to the rain.

When he rounded a corner he almost stumbled over a chalkboard sign placed haphazardly in the middle of the sidewalk advertising “Coffee. Black. Cheap. Hot. Sometimes food.”

Iruka snorted and looked to the coffee shop, which was just as non-descript as the sign might indicate. He hadn’t walked these streets before, just driven past, so he hadn’t noticed it. It didn’t particularly stand out.

From what he could see through the large window it looked like any coffee bar, only… simpler. A mix of chairs and tables, only a few matching. Walls plain apart from a couple of posters that looked they had been hung to advertise something and then just never been taken down.

There was a couple of people sitting inside, but other than that it looked deserted. Calm. Nothing like the stress of the Starbucks by his office building where it was all long lines and noise.

With the rain still pouring down giving Iruka no reason to believe it had any plan to stop anytime soon, and a stomach who was trying to not so politely tell him that maybe it was time for lunch soon Iruka made a snap decision and walked inside.

He pushed the shorter hairs that always escaped the low bun he tied at the nape of his neck back from his forehead and shrugged off his coat as he walked towards the desk. There was no one standing there, but a small brass bell stood placed in the middle of it, so Iruka lifted it and gave a small ring. Moment later a door to the side of the desk pushed open. Iruka looked towards it, and the moment his eyes locked on the person standing there the world froze, everything but that one man vanishing.

Something clicked in Iruka’s mind, like the final piece of the puzzle sliding into place, completing something Iruka hadn’t even know was incomplete.

Iruka knew this man. Not in this life, but from _before_. He remembered another life, blurs and flashes that made no sense yet, but he remembered _him_ , remembered Kakashi. Gone were the mask over his face and the headband tilted over his eyes, but the grey hair was still there, as unruly as ever, although it was shorter now.

There was no scar dissecting his eye, and the eyes looking at Iruka, wide in surprise, was both a steely grey.

Iruka choked on the memories suddenly flooding him, a flood that had broken through a dam in his mind. He remembered their life, short and bloody. A relationship that had never been able to bloom, stopped by war and a world that didn’t open for a happily ever after.

Iruka grabbed the edge of the counter to steady himself. A moment or two or ten passed with just the two looking at each other. It was as if he was remembering some lost dream, and part of him thought he must’ve relived that other life while he slept, because it felt like he had just seen Kakashi, the other Kakashi, the one from earlier, even if it was at least a lifetime ago.

Suddenly everything made sense. The way Iruka had always felt something missing, like there was something not quite right with him, some vague feeling of _is this really all there is_. Iruka had a whole other life once, one filled with loss and pain and death, but also light and love and Kakashi.

Time unfroze as Kakashi got out from behind the counter, stopping right in front of Iruka. He looked the same but also different. Not just the hair or the matching eyes. He wasn’t as hard around the edges, a man who wasn’t thrust into a life of a warrior as a kid. He looked… not happy, but more at ease.

Kakashi lifted a hand and placed it on Iruka’s face, just like he had done a dozen times back then. It was different again, his fingers not callused or marked by the dozens of scars they had been. Soft and warm.

“Iruka. I’ve been waiting for you,” Kakashi said, and Iruka felt his heart soar.

Iruka had never been one to give much thought to destiny, but if someone asked if he believed in fate or soulmates or destiny he would give a small smile, and maybe his eyes would flick towards Kakashi and he would nod. Yes, he had every reason to believe.


	7. Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day Seven: Dream. NeighboursAU

Kakashi stretched his arms over his head as he walked towards his bed, freezing when he noticed something out of his peripheral vision that drew his attention. His arms dropped as he took in the expanse of gorgeously tan skin on display. He took a step closer, his feet working all on their own, seemingly drawn towards what he was seeing. Never had he been happier for the fact that his bedroom building was basically squashed up against the neighbouring apartment building, directly opposite his neighbour’s bedroom window. 

The previous tenant had always kept their blinds firmly shut, but the new one apparently didn’t, giving Kakashi a perfect view right into that bedroom and the man inside. Iruka. Praise the gods of fate that had made his coworker move in directly across from him. 

Kakashi’s hands curled around the window sill as he leaned closer, seeing strong muscles move as Iruka stretched. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants, but they hung low enough on his hips to show off a pair of perfect dimples right there above the swell of a very nice ass. Kakashi knew it was probably a bad thing to be staring, but if Iruka really minded he would have closed his blinds. It wasn’t as if the office rumors hadn’t pegged Kakashi as a pervert ages ago.

Iruka tugged off the elastic that kept his hair tied back, and as his hair fell down to cover his neck Kakashi had to swallow. He had the sudden urge to run his fingers through that hair, bury his fingers in it and give it a tug. 

Time moved slow as Iruka started turning, and Kakashi was torn between the part of him that told him to get away before he was discovered to be the exact pervert he was frequently called out to be, and the part that wanted to see if the front was as attractive as the back.

It was even better. Iruka was all lean muscle and tan skin, from defined pecs to the sharp hipbones disappearing behind the waistband of the sweats. Kakashi’s eyes lingered on the trail of dark hair that trailed down from Iruka’s belly button when he felt the prickling sensation of someone watching him. Only then did he look up, and for a moment he was too struck by just how handsome Iruka was to realise that Iruka wasn’t pissed off like Kakashi had thought he would be. No, those brown eyes looking at him were full of mischief, not anger. 

Kakashi swallowed hard, sending his best bashful grin across the gap between their windows. Iruka didn’t say anything, just flicked his hair out of his face with a toss of his head. Kakashi thought Iruka would pull the blinds or flip him off, so when Iruka lifted a hand to let it trace down his body his eyes just about bugged out of his head. 

Iruka winked at him as he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of the sweats and started pulling down. Kakashi’s eyes followed hungrily as more and more skin was exposed, too entranced to wonder what the hell was happening and why Iruka was suddenly this… forward.

By the time Iruka pushed his sweatpants completely past his hips Kakashi was rock hard, his cock tenting his pajama bottoms. His fingers were digging into the wood of the window sill, and if it wasn’t for the four stories to the ground beneath he would be jumping over the gap between their windows to ravage Iruka thoroughly. For now he was forced to watch as Iruka curved a hand around his cock and gave it a languid pull. Oh how Kakashi wished it was his hands. 

Scratch that. Even from this distance he could see shiny beads of precum decorating the flushed head of Iruka’s dick and he wanted to be on his knees in front of Iruka, wanted to wrap his lips around that heavy cock and suck it into his mouth. Wanted to taste him, and hear him moan and feel his cum fill his mouth.

Iruka’s head tilted to the side, and he pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, biting down on it as his hand started moving faster on his cock, and Kakashi so desperately wanted to see him come, wanted to see his face as he came all over himself.

Kakashi heard ringing, but he ignored it, too invested in watching what Iruka was doing, not wanting to miss any--

His heart was thrumming in his chest as Kakashi sat up in bed, looking around himself in surprise. His phone was ringing, and the room was completely dark around him. 

It took his mind a moment to gather itseøf. The ringing from his phone had woken him, and the dream was still very fresh on his mind as he fell back against the mattress. His cock was throbbing in his pants, and the cotton was sticky with precum. 

Shit, it had all been a dream? 

He peered towards the window, and was disappointed to see that in the window across from him the blinds were firmly shut. Apparently Iruka was just as opposed to neighbours watching him sleep as the last tenant had been. 

With a groan Kakashi reached over and cut off the phone call. It was still too early for the sun to have even risen, so he already knew that it would be Gai trying to get him to join him in one of his morning marathons. He wasn’t opposed to working out, but right now his cock, still hard, had other ideas for him. He dropped his hands to his groin, figuring it wouldn’t calm down until he did something about it. 

He tried not to think about his coworker as he jerked off, but with the dream still fresh on his mind it was hard not to.

***

Several hours later Kakashi woke again, disappointed to find that he apparently hadn’t dreamed anything else since his early morning jerk off had him fall asleep again. 

He took a shower, his body sticky with dried sweat and other substances, and left for the grocery store to pick up some breakfast. The dream was vanishing from him by the minute, growing blurry along the edges, until all he remembered was that it had entailed a very naked Iruka. He couldn’t quite bring up how dream Iruka had looked, but he did remember that he had very much liked it. If only he could compare it to the real thing. 

They had worked together for close to a year, and even though Kakashi apparently annoyed Iruka on a daily basis judging by the scoldings he regularly got, he quite liked him. Iruka was fun. So composed and polite most of the time, but when he went off, all red face and yells of annoyance Kakashi saw another side that intrigued him. He hadn’t thought too much about just what it was, but it appeared that his subconscious had. 

Sure, he had always found Iruka to be an attractive man, that was kind of obvious, with that tan skin and those expressive eyes and that soft smile, but he hadn’t actually considered he wanted more than to be friendly. His dream was making it hard to see Iruka in a solely friendly light anymore though, and the more he thought about it the more he realised that he very much would like to tap that. 

Actually, he didn’t just want to tap that, he wanted Iruka to look at him with lust in his eyes, and he wanted him to smile that bright smile of his just at him and he might have a teeny tiny crush he hadn't realised before. 

He didn’t pay much attention as he walked through the grocery store, filling his basket with whatever he found that looked vaguely breakfasty while considering this new revelation. 

It kept playing in his mind as he walked home, and he was too lost in his thoughts to realise who he was about to crash into.

“Kakashi!”

Kakashi blinked as he looked up from the ground and met a bright smile. Shit. He opened his mouth to say something, but forgot what people actually did with their mouths, so he just stood there, lips parted, no sound even vaguely resembling a word leaving them.

Iruka laughed. “Stayed up too late last night?” 

Kakashi closed his mouth before nodding, finally remembering how to talk. “Yeah. Late night, lots happened,” he said, dragging his fingers through his hair. He was not about to tell Iruka about the dream, but he couldn’t quite help how his gaze dropped to Iruka’s groin, wondering just how he looked without clothes. 

“Kakashi? Are you okay?”

Kakashi snapped his gaze up from Iruka’s groin to his face, realising that Iruka had been saying something and he had no idea what. 

“Uhm yeah,” he answered. Kakashi was normally not easily flustered, but the dream tonight had seriously messed with his head. To think that having someone move in across from you would be this revelational. 

“It was nice seeing you, but I should continue moving in, I need to empty the truck within the day.

Kakashi finally realised just why Iruka was standing in the middle of the street in front of a moving van, a chair at his feet. 

“Are you doing it alone?” Kakashi asked, very firmly keeping his eyes no Iruka’s face now. 

“Yeah, everyone else was busy it seems like, and I didn’t have time to wait, I had to empty the old apartment. I got the first load up to the new place yesterday because Kotetsu and Izumo helped out, but they couldn’t today, so. It should be okay though, we got most of the big furniture up yesterday.” Iruka still smiled, and Kakashi was surprised how he hadn’t noticed just how pretty that smile was before. It made his chest all tingly. 

“I’ll help you,” Kakashi said, and before Iruka could brush off his offer he had pulled out a box from the truck and placed his small bag of groceries on top, walking towards the entrance. Iruka hurried after him with the chair. 

“You don’t really have to,” he said as he opened the door for them. Kakashi just shrugged, not about to say that he might have some ulterior motive to help. If he showed Iruka that he was all dependable maybe he could convince him to go out with him later on.

“I don’t mind,” he said instead.

“I really appreciate it.”

Kakashi forgot all about breakfast as he helped empty the moving van of boxes upon boxes marked books and clothes and kitchen utensils. It took them awhile, but finally they could place the last two boxes in the living room and collapse on the couch, side by side. Iruka rested his head back against the top of the couch and closed his eyes. Kakashi looked at him. He couldn’t believe that it taken him a dirty dream to realise just how attracted he was to Iruka. 

“Go on a date with me.” The words spilled from his lips before he could catch himself. That was certainly not how he had ever intended to ask. Shit. There went the image of suave Kakashi out the window. 

“Sure,” Iruka said, and it took Kakashi a moment to get that he actually agreed. 

Iruka tilted his head towards him and smiled. “I was hoping you’d ask.” 

Of course Iruka was too perceptive not to notice just why Kakashi was acting off earlier. or maybe he’d know all along. It wouldn’t surprise Kakashi if Iruka knew before he did, Iruka was always good with people in a way Kakashi wasn’t. 

Maybe his dream would come true sometimes soon after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this marks the end of Iruka Appreciation Week! I'm so surprised I managed to finish! Had a lot of fun writing these, and am already planning which to turn into full length fics. If anyone have anyone in particular they would like to see expanded upon please feel free to tell me!


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